Chicago police officers on routine patrol found a murder victim lying dead in Lawndale overnight. Investigators were unable to immediately identify the victim, but a CPD media statement said he appeared to be “approximately teenage.” (Update: Family members told media outlets the boy was 13 years old.)

Nobody called 911 to report shots fired in the area before the boy was found shot in the head in the backyard of a home in the 1500 block of South Kildare around 2:10 a.m. Shell casings were lying nearby.

That block was monitored by the ShotSpotter gunfire detection system until Mayor Brandon Johnson ended the city’s relationship with the company at midnight on September 23. Had the technology still been deployed, police would have been notified of the gunfire that killed the victim and the location where the shots were fired.

The only report of gunfire in the area came around 6:42 p.m. Saturday when a patrol officer radioed that he heard shots fired to the north of 18th and Kildare.

Detectives are now working to figure out what happened—and when.

Local Ald. Monique Scott (24th) was a vocal supporter of the ShotSpotter system. She was part of the City Council’s 66% majority who tried to keep the gunfire technology active, despite Johnson’s bullheaded determination to pull the plug.

“We’re basically going to play Russian roulette with our constituents’ lives,” Scott said a couple of weeks before Johnson terminated the service.

“You say you have a campaign promise,” Scott told Johnson days before he terminated the service, “but you can’t put a life over a campaign promise.”

After a 14-year-old boy was shot, killed, and left undiscovered in her ward on October 1, Scott called on Johnson to reverse course.

“Our community is in crisis. I stand with Alderman David Moore in urging Mayor Johnson to reactivate ShotSpotter immediately,” Scott wrote on social media. “One life lost is too many.”

Brandon’s Bodies

As of 12:01 a.m. on September 23, 2024, Chicago terminated its relationship with ShotSpotter, a gunfire detection system deployed in 12 of the city’s most violence-impacted neighborhoods.

Mayor Brandon Johnson stubbornly refused to reconsider his decision to dismantle ShotSpotter, even though the vast majority of aldermen, many citizens, victim’s advocates, and his handpicked police superintendent requested that it remain in place.

This reporting series, named “Brandon’s Bodies,” seeks to document cases of shooting victims and police investigations that could have benefited from gunshot detection technology.

The general criteria for inclusion are a gunshot victim found outside in a location previously served by ShotSpotter with either (1) no accompanying 911 calls about gunfire or (2) calls about gunfire in a general area that did not lead to the timely location of the victim.

You can contact CWBChicago and provide anonymous tips by email: [email protected]